“Every future needs an anchor in yesterday.”

  Extract from The SolDiri lullaby

  Reaching up, Rebecca traced the glyph on one of the faces. A swirling, jagged spiral of shadowy tendrils encircled a central void, etched with deep, light-absorbing grooves.

  “This mantle’s the Void Spiral and carries the burden of dark energy that flows through the void of creation.”

  Davy walked around the stone to the next face, “And this one?” He pointed at a perfect circle surrounded by radiating arcs. “This…” he paused, “Face?”.

  She nodded. “Yes, we call them glyphs, the face of the burden carried by the Mantles they represent.”

  “Mantles?”

  “Yes, Mantles; contracts with the SolDiri. A cloak one chooses to wear. If you wear the Void Spiral, your burden is to guard the SolDiri’s memory and their never-ending, recursive truth.”

  As he looked back at the Void Spiral, he thought he saw the inner crescent, etched with faint patterns, shift. Move.

  He turned to Rebecca who was looking at him, not the stone. “Did you…” he shook his head, “Nothing.”

  She moved on, around the standing stone, “That next Mantle is called the Shadow Eclipse. Those who bear it walk between extremes and anchor peace in paradox. Harmony made action.”

  Rebecca took on the practiced tone of someone delivering knowledge.

  “Always the teacher,” Davy muttered.

  The next face held a flame, rising upwards. The edges tapered into curling shadows, with hollow centres evoking endless depth.

  She anticipated his question, “The Abyssal Flame, it’s Mantle carries the burden of free will, change, but it must be tempered with purpose else it consumes all.”

  “My head’s spinning. You folks got deep ways… reminds me of the old tribes back home, the way they saw signs in every tree and rock.”

  It was a statement but spoke as if he were taken aback.

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  “You’re surprised?”

  He thought for a moment, “Ain’t proud to say it, but my own foolishness often catches me off guard more’n I’d like,” he said with a bow.

  Rebecca cocked her head, not sure if he was teasing her.

  Having determined he wasn’t, she bowed back, then moved to the last of the faces and took one of his hands. He didn’t resist as she pressed it against the fractured star-like pattern at the glyph’s centre.

  It felt immediately cold and got colder as if drawing heat, energy from his hand.

  He tried to pull away. She locked eyes with him and held his hand firmly against the black carved rock at its centre.

  A wave of feelings, pained emotions washed over him. Davy gasped and pulled away staring hard at Rebecca.

  “What in hell was that? Felt like I walked into a room full of ghosts?”

  She laid her hand on the glyph.

  “I did nothing, what did you feel?” she asked him as she closed her eyes.

  He struggled for the words.

  “I’m not sure,” then thoughts emerged from an inner turmoil. “Like the whole world tipped sideways. Somethin’ wrong at its core. A word popped into my head; Nataget.”

  She caught her breathe, “You felt that?”

  “What does it mean?”

  “It is an old word meaning asymmetry or chaos. It’s the opposite of ‘Teget’ which is symmetry. Balance.”

  Seeing the look of amazement on Rebecca’s face he shrugged, “Yep! Nataget, clear as day.”

  Davy moved on and pointed to a star-like glyph with broken edges and pieces falling away.

  “It’s the Fractured Star,” she answered, her voice a whisper.

  “And?”

  “We need to get moving.” She hesitated, then added, “We’ll talk on it later.”

  She walked around the standing stone, so the Void Spiral was at her back and pointed, “We’re going there, to the Valley of Wisdom.”

  Davy knew better than to disrespect people’s beliefs but couldn’t help smiling a little, “Valley of Wisdom, huh? Sounds fancy. Hope it lives up to its name.”

  Rebecca saw the smile, shook her head, “Men!”, then marched off in the direction she was facing, the Void Spiral at her back.

  He lined up the stone with the river and traced a line back up his valley. Looking up at the standing stone he saw that the Shadow Eclipse pointed directly at his cave.

  He looked for Rebecca, but she’d set off, leaving him behind.

  Davy started after her, “Lord help me… women!”

  His valley, his cave? Was it really his cave? He felt like a blind man suddenly able to glimpse texture in shadows and wondered where more light would come from to illuminate their secrets.

  By early afternoon their valley was behind them, and they were in another. It too had a river and was a long valley with low clouds rising from the trees flanking it.

  But there the similarities ended, the trees and the ground beneath them felt older, less used somehow.

  With Rebecca’s help he saw a standing stone in the distance.

  “We need to align it with the river.”

  “Are you gunna tell me what we’re doin’. Where we goin’?” he asked.

  “Somewhere close, somewhere special, a place of wisdom.” She emphasised the word wisdom.

  As the river lined up with the standing stone he could see gathering excitement in Rebecca’s step. She pushed forward, up the slope towards the stone despite her labouring breath.

  The intelligence in its placement reminded him of ancient navigation stones he’d come across in the deserts and hills back home.

  Stones that whispered of forgotten time and lost wisdom to passing travellers.

  The sun was getting low; it was too far to get back home before nightfall.

  “You plannin’ on us beddin’ down up here, or we keepin’ going through the night?” he asked.

  She ignored him and strode on.

  Davy wasn’t used to her like this, unresponsive and introspective. It wasn’t the teacher he was used to.

  Sundown was almost upon them when Rebecca reached the stone. She quickly checked their position, then sat down, the setting sun full on her face.

  She patted the ground, “Best seats in the house.”

  His joke in her voice made him laugh and broke the awkward silence between them.

  He walked over and joined her, watching as the sun clung to the horizon before finally falling over the edge.